More Security News

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has decided that the Department for Education has to respond to a freedom of information request asking for data sent in a private email account, as it amounts to departmental business.

An incorrect company identification was given for a source in the story, Cyberterrorism threat shouldn't be underestimated, some security experts say, in the eleventh paragraph. The correct paragraph is as follows:

As Congress wrestles over cybersecurity legislation related to securing critical infrastructure and the electric power grid, arguments are surfacing on whether the power companies should handle any new federally mandated network protections or whether the U.S. government -- in particular the National Security Agency -- should be in the middle of it.

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission is seeking public comments on whether it's ever appropriate for law enforcement agencies to shut down mobile networks in the name of public safety, as Bay Area Rapid Transit did last August.

The leaders of the Department of Defense and the Federal Bureau of Investigation this week separately expressed concern over the increasing numbers of cyberattacks, with FBI Director Robert Mueller saying that while terrorism remains the FBI's top priority, "in the not too distant future, we anticipate that the cyberthreat will pose the No. 1 threat to our country."

Concern about cyberterrorism was evident this week among security experts at the RSA security conference in San Francisco, who find that some people with extremist views have the technical knowledge that could be used to hack into systems.

When a few members of the politically motivated hacking group Anonymous floated a plan recently to cripple the Internet's core address system, the idea was roundly dismissed by other members of the group.

The Republican-proposed SECURE IT Act presents a much narrower vision than bipartisan comprehensive cybersecurity measure, adding no regulations and limiting focus to voluntary sharing of information about threats.